weight reduction
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British race car design company Gordon Murray Design showed off its new lightweight race car body last week at the Low Carbon Vehicle Show in England. The company calls its body-in-white—an industry term for a car body with no components attached—iStream, and it says it's the result of a new process it patented to make lightweight racing technology easier to manufacture. CHECK OUT: 2019 Mercedes-Benz A-Class sedan sets wind-cheating record Cutting weight can make all kinds of cars more efficient, from pure electric, to hybrids, to conventional cars. Automakers have known how to...
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Carbon fiber from plants close to carbon-neutral? Scientists hopeful
When it comes to materials with the most promise in automotive applications, carbon fiber and graphene each rank high on the list. Unlike graphene, however, real-world carbon fiber applications exist today—and they're helping automakers reduce the weight of cars coming tomorrow. There's one...
Mark Stevenson -
Toyota electric cars could use airless tires if research pans out: report
Although electric cars offer numerous benefits in engineering, design, and zero-emission operation, their overall weight remains a hurdle for automakers, especially as bigger batteries with longer ranges become more important. It now appears that Toyota may look to airless tires as a way to cut...
Sean Szymkowski -
Lighter, more fuel-efficient cars are safer, study says, ignoring safety rules
It was one of several common tropes used 10 years ago against proposed regulations to boost average fuel economy. "More efficient cars will have to be lighter-weight, and they'll be unsafe because in accidents, they'll crumple up like Kleenex." Logical conclusion: if you require higher fuel economy...
John Voelcker -
What's making cars bigger? Gas-mileage rules may be, say analysts
Carmakers are building larger vehicles so they can aim for lower fuel-economy targets, analysts say.
Stephen Edelstein -
Downside Of Higher Gas Mileage: AAA Slams 'Disappearing' Spare Tires
AAA bemoans the replacement of spare tires as a weight-saving measure.
Stephen Edelstein -
Two German companies plan to market carbon-aluminum hybrid wheels.
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Next BMW 7-Series To Use 'Carbon Core' Based on i3 Electric Car Body
The BMW i3 electric car and i8 plug-in hybrid sport coupe are audacious examples of advanced technology in many ways. Not the least of it are body shells made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) mounted atop an aluminum rolling platform carrying the powertrains and crash structures. BMW has...
John Voelcker -
Aluminum-Body 2015 Ford F-150 Gets 5-Star NHTSA Rating For Crash Safety
Cutting weight can be one of the most effective tactics to increase fuel economy, but it doesn't necessarily come cheap. The 2015 Ford F-150 pickup, with its aluminum body and bed mounted on a conventional steel frame, represents a huge gamble by Ford on its highest-volume vehicle line. The company...
John Voelcker -
How To Boost Efficiency: Lighter Cars That Carry More People
Efficiency is a many-splendored thing, and cutting vehicle weight has multiple beneficial effects. A lighter car requires less energy to move, meaning engine output can be lower. This, in turn, requires smaller, lighter powertrain components--which require less-beefy suspensions, further reducing...
John Voelcker -
Steel Vs Aluminum: Which Wins For Fuel Efficiency AND Cost?
An influx of high-strength steel could take away aluminum's weight advantage, the steel industry hopes.
Stephen Edelstein -
Future Pickup Trucks: 7 Out Of 10 Could Be Aluminum By 2025 (Says Aluminum-Industry Study)
A study commissioned by the aluminum industry claims the material will be used more in future cars and trucks.
Stephen Edelstein -
Nissan has put a lot of investment into the battery and all-electric powertrain technology in its all-electric Leaf. Yet outside of that, the Leaf is a pretty ordinary small car in materials and layout. Meanwhile, the somewhat more expensive BMW i3 takes a radically different approach to materials and construction; from its carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic body to its aluminum structure, it's a completely different kind of car. Will Nissan step up with its own new approach to materials and construction, perhaps in a premium electric car? And are carbon-fiber materials something the automaker...
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Lighter Composite Wheels Cut Weight Of New 2015 Audi A8
Lighter wheels could help improve this big luxury sedan's fuel economy.
Stephen Edelstein -
New Gas Mileage Rules Will Reshape What Americans Drive: Aerodynamics And Weight
No, we won't all be driving golf carts. In fact, as cars change over the next 12 years to meet much tougher fuel-economy rules, automakers will likely do their best to keep the changes invisible. Your next vehicles will deliver better gas mileage than ever before, no matter how large or small they...
John Voelcker -
Next Ford F-150: Advanced Materials Likely, Hybrid Powertrain Possible
The new Atlas Concept that Ford Motor Co. [NYSE: F] unveiled at Detroit this past week revealed several interesting technologies that altogether could save fuel (active grille shutters, active wheel shutters, a drop-down air dam, and power running boards) and be useful to serious truck users...
Bengt Halvorson -
How Cars Can Get Better Gas Mileage, Invisibly: Lower Weight
There's a lot of focus--perhaps too much--on carmakers using smaller engines, hybrids, and plug-in cars to meet increasingly higher gas-mileage standards from now through 2025. But another, equally important method is reducing the amount of car that has to be moved around in the first place. That...
John Voelcker -
Honda Changing Construction Methods To Shed Pounds
Honda will move away from traditional, fastener-based construction techniques on its small vehicles to embrace more welding, which will reduce both cost and overall vehicle weight.
Kurt Ernst -
One of the standouts among the global carmakers at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show was Hyundai. The Korean company has seen its market share rise from 3 to 4 percent during a dismal downturn, even without any new volume models to spur excitement. Now, with its Los Angeles launch of the 2010 Tucson compact crossover and the 2011 Sonata midsize sedan, Hyundai has unveiled two new volume vehicles that it hopes will keep it climbing. The big surprise? Hyundai won't offer a V-6 engine in either model. Omission by design And that's by design. As John Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai America, told us, "We...